Shower head



Patented May 6, 1924.

UNITED STATES 'i SHOWER HEAD.

Application med March ze, 1923.` seriai No.` '528310.'

T 0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SHERMAN WV. MAL- LERY, a citizen of the UnitedStates, and a resident of Ridgefield Park, in the county of Bergen andState of New Jersey, have invented a new and Improved Shower Head, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in bath appliances and hasparticular reference to a shower head.

An object of the invention is to utilize the pressure of water enteringthegshower head to close the drain thereofwhich is au` tomaticallyopened when said pressure is. discontinued.

Another object is to so ,construct the shower head that access may bereadilyy had to the interior thereof for making repairs and the like. nY.

A further object is to provide an .improved constructionby means ofwhich the interior ofA the head may be quickly and thoroughly cleansedwithout the necessity of .disassembling the same.

A still further object is to avoidthe usual prolonged dripping of waterfrom the head after the flow has been discontinued by the provision ofmeans which will expedite the `complete emptying of water from the headimmediately following the shutting off of the flow thereof. c

The above and other objects will appear more clearly from the followingdetail description, when taken inconnection with the Y accompanyingdrawing, `which illustrates preferred embodiments of the inventivessf Inthe drawing- Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the showerhead constructed in accordance with the invention; v

Figure 2 isa section on the Figure 1;

line 2-2 of Figure 3 is a section on the line 3--3 of Figure 4;

Figure 4 is a section on the line-44 of Figure 1; and V f Figure 5 is afragmentary View, partly in section, illustrating a slightly differentconstruction of the bottom plate of the head. Referring moreparticularly to Figures 1 to 4, which illustrate a preferredembodimentfof the invention, the shower head is` shown v-as comprising abody 6 having an inlet opening y7 in the top thereof in which aVpresently appear.

. coupling member 8 is mounted and held in position by the nut 9. TheinnerV end of the coupling 8y projects into the interior of the body andthe exterior end ofv saidcoupling is internally screw .threaded toreceive one end of the supply pipe 10 through which water enters thehead.

The lower edge of the body 6 is provided with an externally threadedflange 11 for receiving the bottom plate 12 which is ofsubstantially.inverted frusto-conical formation and which is provided vin itslowermost and central portion with a drain opening 13 in the `form of avalve seat, which is preferably in alignment withthe supply pipev 10yand through-'which water andsediment in the Aheadimay be drained, aswillv later b e described. The bottom plate 12 is providedatdiametrically` opposite points with the hanldles 14 utilized to attachand detach the plate vfrom the body 6 wheneverit is desired to obtainaccess to the ,interior ofthe body.v Theplate 12 is further providedwitha plurality of circular rows of apertures 15 ar. ranged concentricallywith respect tothe drain opening 13 and said apertures are preferablyflared outwardly, as indicated in Figure 1, to insure the passage ofsediment through the plate after the sediment enters ythe inner ends ofsaid apertures. It has also Vbeen found in Ypracticethat the openingstapered-in this manner cause the waterv to fall .in drops instead of aconstant stream.

Carried by the plate 12 and `positioned interiorly of the body indirectalignment with the drain opening 13 isa guide member 16 having vspacedextensionsl'? at-its lower end which receive screwsor other fasteners Y18 for securing the guide member in position. A valvestemr 19Lisrotatably and slidably mounted inthe guide member 16 v and has itsklowernend projecting through the drain opening 13and provided with aknurled portion 20 to facilitate the turning of the valve stem, for apurpose which vwill stem l19fadjacent its lowerendis a valve 21 whichlismovable between the lower end of the guide member 16 and the drain.opening v13. `The valve 21 isno'rrnally v.maincoil spring 22, the loweren d of which is seated on a portion of the guidemember 16,

of the valve stem? 19 by .means of a set Formed upon the valve tainedlin its open position by means of a plate25 and eXert a pressure thereonwhich is sufficient to overcome the tension of the spring 22 and thusforce the valve stem 19, together with the valve 21 and arm 23downwardly until the valve 21 is seated in the drain opening 13 thusclosingy the same, thereby causing the water in the body 6 to flowthrough the apertures in the bottom plate 12 while the device is inoperation.

Immediately upon the discontinuance of the flow of water through thepipe 10 into the body 6 the spring 22 operates to force the valve vstem1.9 and valve 21 upwardly to their nor-mal positions thus opening thedrain opening13 to permit of theaccumulated .water in the head 6 toreadily and quickly flow therefrom. In order to further facilitate theemptying of the body after the supply of water has been shut off thevalve stem 19 is provided with alongitudinal passage 26 extending fromthe lower end thereof to a point. adjacent the upper end where saidpassage Vcommunicates vwith av lateral port 27.- The provision of thispassage and port permits of air entering through the valve stem intothebody 6 after. the level of the water has-receded below the port 27and this air-entering the body will aid in causing the water tofiowrapidly from the head instead of dripping therefrom, as in the ordinaryconstruction of shower heads.

The invention further contemplates means for cleaning the interiorsurface of the bottom plate 12 of any accumulation of sediadjacent thedrain opening 13 -toutheouter periphery of the interior surface yof saidbottom plate so that when the scraper memberl is Arotated in acounter-clockwise direction, as viewed inFigurel 2, the same willeffectively removeany accumulation of sediment upon the interiorfaceofthe-,bottom plate and direct Asuch sediment toward the drain opening13.V i

To rotate the scraper member 28 'the same is preferably provided withvertically disposed rods 29 one adjacent each end thereof, thelupper'ends of, said rods being slidable in bearings() dpending'k,fromthe guide arm l23 v .vihich. extends laterally fromthe upper end ofthe valve stem 19. By thus slidably connecting the scraper yblade 28with the valve stem 19, it will be apparent that any vertical or slidingmovement of the latter member will be relative to the scraper member 28so that this member will be unaffected by the opening and closingmovements of the valve 21 when the Supply of water to the head is turnedof'r1 and on. To rotate the scraper member 28 it is only necessary tograsp the lower knurled end 2O of the valve stem 19 and rotate the samein the proper direction. In the cleaning operation a small quantity ofwater may be permitted to flow into the head before rotating the scrapermember so that the sediment removed from the bottom plate by said memberwill more readily be conveyed to the drain opening. l

In Figure 5, a slightly different form of the invention is disclosed, inwhich the use ofthe scraper member 28 and its associated parts aredispensed with, .the sediment collecting in the body 6 being preventedfrom obstructing the openings in the plate 12 through which the waterflows by means of small perforated tubular membersv 31 which arethreaded upon the, inner ends of nozzles 32, the latter being in turnthreaded into suitable openings formed in the bottom plate 12.

What is claimed is:

1. In a shower head, a body having an inlet, a perforated bottom forsaid body having a drain opening, .a valveguide carried by said bottom,a valvemovablein said guide and operable to close and open said drainopening, means for normally maintaining said valve in open. position,and means normally projecting into said inlet and actuated by thepressure of fluid entering said body for operating said valve to closesaid drain opening.

2. In a shower head, a body, a perforated bottom therefor having a drainopening, a rotatable member extending through said bottom, and a`scraper movable with said member when the same is rotated and engageablewith the inner surface of.. said bottom to direct sediment thereontoward said drain opening.

3. In a' shower head, a bodya perforated bottom therefor having a drainvopening, a member slidably and rotatably vmounted within said body, avalve carried hy said member for closing said drain opening when asliding movement is imparted to said member, and a scraper connected tosaidmember and actuated to scrape the bot-tom -o'f said body only whensaid member is rotated.

4. In a shower head, a body. a perforated bottom therefor having adrainop'ening, a member extending intosaid body and having sliding androtary movements therein, a scraper movable in said body, means carriedby said member for supporting said scraper in operative position and formoving the same only when said member is rotated, and a valve carried bysaid member for closing said drainv opening when a sliding move-k forclosing said drain opening, and a plate also carried by said membercontiguous to said inlet whereby the iiow of a fluid entering said inletwill exert a-pressure on said plate to move said valve to its closingposition.

G. In a shower head, a body having an inlet, a perforated bottom forsaid body having a drain opening, a member extending through said bodyand in alignment with said inlet, a lvalve carried by said member forclosing said drain opening, a plate also carried by said membercontiguous to said inlet whereby the flow of a fluid entering said inletWill exert apressure on said plate to move said valve to its closingposition, and a spring interposed between said valve and plate forrestoring the former to its normal position When the flow oi' fluidthrough said inlet is stopped.

7. In a shower head, a body inlet, a perforated bottom detachablyconneoted to said body and having a drain opening, a guide membercarried by said bottom, a valve stem movable in said guide member andhaving a valve for closing said drain opening, and means carried by saidvalve stem and projecting into said inlet and actuated by the pressureof a uid enteringv said body to move said valve to its closing position.

SHERMAN W. MALLERY.

having an vf

